Fair use
Fair use is an American legal doctrine that users may, in certain circumstances, copy or publish copyrighted works without permission. The rules were created by Justice Story in the 1841 decision Folsom v. Marsh The guidelines were codified in 1976. See Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
Section 107 sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:[1]
- the purpose and character of the use, such that educational and nonprofit use is favored
- the nature of the copyrighted work, such that factual material has less protection and artistic creations have more
- amount of the copyrighted work used, measured quantitatively and qualitatively. In some cases the entire work may be copied.
- the effect of the use upon the commercial value of the copyrighted work.
Public domain
Fair use does not apply to items that are in the "public domain"; they can be used in any way whatever, without asking any permission. Texts and images published in the U.S. before January 1, 1923 are in the public domain. Work created by the federal government is in the public domain (but not work created by state of local governments). Before 1963 copyright expired after 28 years and had to be renewed; items that were not renewed are in the public domain. Items that were published in the USA but never copyright in the first place are in the public domain in the USA. Items posted on web servers in the U.S. are covered only by American law.
Plagiarism
Fair use, public domain, and copyight are legal issues under federal law in the U.S. The UK, EU, Canada, Australia and Japan have similar national laws. Plagiarism (taking credit for someone else's writing) is severely punished by schools and the academic world, whether or not the material was copyrighted.